Corrections to Decoding Genomes

On this page we maintain a list of reported errors and their corrections. If you believe you have identified an error which is not on this list, please send the details to errata@decodinggenomes.org. Thank you!

Chapter 6: Phylogenetic trees

• Page 143, the paragraph following the proof incorrectly claims that (2n-5)!!=(2n-5)(2n-6)!! and uses this as the basis for deriving its asymptotic exponential growth. Instead, consider the following alternative and correct argument:
  1. (2n-5)!! > (2n-6)!! = 2^(n-3)·(n-3)! which we know increases super-exponentially in the limit of large n due to Stirling's approximation.
  2. (2n-5)!! < (2n-4)!! = 2^(n-2)·(n-2)! which also increases super-exponentially.
  3. Therefore (2n-5)!! is bounded above and below by exponentially-growing functions, and must thus itself also grow exponentially in the limit of large n.

Chapter 8: Traits and comparative methods

• Page 215, second line of equation 8.29 is missing an f² after the first opening parenthesis.

Chapter 10: Bayesian Inference

• Page 309, in the sentence following equation 10.12 the symbols M₁ and M₂ should be exchanged.